With her fortieth birthday approaching, Lucy Carpenter thinks she finally has it all: a wonderful new husband, Jonah, a successful career and the chance of a precious baby of her own. Life couldn’t be more perfect.

But becoming parents proves much harder to achieve than Lucy and Jonah imagined, and when Jonah’s teenage daughter Camille comes to stay with them, she becomes a constant reminder of what Lucy doesn’t have. Jonah’s love and support are unquestioning, but Lucy’s struggles with work and her own failing dreams begin to take their toll. With Camille’s presence straining the bonds of Lucy’s marriage even further, Lucy suddenly feels herself close to losing everything…

This heart-wrenchingly poignant family drama from bestselling author Amanda Prowse asks the question: in today’s hectic world, what does it mean to be a mother?

Lucy is a 39-year old advertising executive who has just about given up on marriage and motherhood after her fiance left her to marry her cousin. But when she attends the christening of her godson, she meets Jonah Carpenter who immediately is smitten and so is she. They soon marry and try vigilantly to have a baby with tragic results. Life gets even more complicated when Jonah’s 16-year old daughter, Camille, comes for an extended visit.

I couldn’t decide for quite some time whether I liked Lucy or not but as the story progressed, it occurred to me that it wasn’t about liking or disliking this character. She’s experiencing the normal feelings you would expect of someone of her age and circumstances. Lucy is just human and I ended up admiring her for being authentic in her reactions to miscarriage, a resentful stepdaughter and a husband in denial.

What’s distinctive about this story as the characters show up as very real. I found myself wanting them, particularly Lucy, to behave differently but would then realize that she was reacting in ways I probably would have behaved. There was an unforeseen revelation late in the story that answers many questions while at the same time throwing gasoline on the Carpenter home. It’s provocative, emotionally and intellectually. Though the author could sometimes be overly descriptive of non-essential details, I thought it was well written and paced. I’m glad I read it as I learned so much about the emotional long term toll of miscarriage on everyone involved.

About Amanda Prowse

Amanda has always obsessively crafted short stories and scribbled notes for potential books, but it wasn’t until she was forty that she began writing full time. The result was Poppy Day, the story of an army wife, whose incredible love for her husband gives her the courage to rescue him from hostages in Afghanistan. This was followed by the number 1 bestseller What Have I Done? Amanda now has ten novels and four novellas published.

All of Amanda’s books in the No Greater Love series share common themes in that they are contemporary love stories, the main characters are women, just like you and I, who find themselves in extraordinary situations for love.

Her new series is the No Greater Courage series, tales of women facing the trials that life throws at them and having to dig deep to find the will and strength to succeed. This series includes the A Mother’s Story and Perfect Daughter, which continue to receive brilliant reader and press reviews.

Amanda’s ambition has always been to create stories that keep people from turning the bedside lamp off at night, great characters that ensure you take every step with them and tales that fill your head so you can’t possibly read another book until the memory fades…

Currently, Amanda lives in the West Country with her husband and their 18 & 19 year old boys Josh and Ben.

I LOVE reading and am just crazy about so many series and writers. I’m open to exploring new authors and genres and appreciate those who not only write well but can deliciously craft a character and a tale. Your suggestions for new authors and titles are very much welcomed.

I also love to talk about books. There’s nothing more exciting than to finish a great story and cover it A to Z with other people, exploring different perspectives and points of view. So, if you see something on my shelf you’d like to talk about, send me a message and we’ll talk!